Chapter 2 - Plants Grow and Change

No matter what the weather or season, you can explore nature with these 11 challenges. See just how good your observation skills are by comparing butterflies, leaves, reptiles, fish, and more. Then record your own observations in a field journal.

2003 Young Naturalist Award-winning essay - Journey to the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona with this seventh-grader for an up-close and personal look at the saguaro cactus, which can live about 200 years and grow to be almost 80 feet tall.

In recent years, scientists from around the world have turned to Vietnam in their search for new plant and animal species. Vietnam harbors an astonishing range of habitats, from rain forests and dry forests to mangroves and coral reefs. Scientific expeditions and surveys have discovered an amazing range of biodiversity. But even as this biodiversity is being revealed, it is coming under threat from development and human activity. Scientists now are racing to accomplish their studies in an effort to keep Vietnam's biological wealth from disappearing entirely.